Illegal occupation in Green Town: ‘Security plans’ at school fail to keep encroachers at bay
Plight of teachers and students moves Sindh governor to visit school on Monday
The government school in Green Town was reduced to rubble by an encroacher around five months ago. The government’s failure to take action has led the occupiers to make a cement wall dividing the premises into two halves during the winter break. PHOTO: ONLINE
KARACHI:
The government may have used the past month drawing up elaborate security plans for schools but the encroachers at Green Town used this time to cement a wall right in the middle of the school.
The teachers and students of Asif Government Boys Primary as well as Lower Secondary schools arrived on Monday morning after the extended winter vacations to find floor mats and makeshift tents in their so-called classrooms.
It was déjà vu for the students who witnessed a similar scene in August last year when they came back from their summer break. Save the boundary walls, the students were shocked to find their institute had been reduced to rubble. According to Karachi director of school education Abdul Wahab Abbasi, a 'fake' claimant to ownership of the government plot, Saleem Anwarwala, had taken the opportunity to demolish the building.
On Monday, there was one difference: a cement wall had been erected right in the middle of the scattered debris and roofless classrooms, splitting the school premises into half.
Built over a 1,000 square-yard plot in the late 1960s, the school was nationalised during the early 1970s. Later, in 1981, the provincial education department consolidated the Akhtar Government Girls' Primary and Secondary School with the boys' school that operates in the afternoon shift.
Abbasi, who according to the teachers had never bothered to visit the school premises since the demolition, explained why the provincial education department had left the government property in this wretched state for over five months. "We have contributed Rs150,000 in five months to reconstruct the building," he told The Express Tribune. The reconstruction work requires Rs6.7 million based on unofficial estimates.
The teachers, who had been directed by the Sindh education department to continue teaching under these circumstances, were unimpressed with the claim. "They [officials of the Sindh education department as well as the district municipal corporation for Korangi] did not even bother to remove the debris, let alone reconstruct the building," said Nasreen Bano, the headmistress at Akhtar Government Girls' Primary School.
"Which parent would like to send their children to study in the midst of scattered debris and roofless classrooms with not even a single chair to sit on?" she asked. Her fears are proven by the fact that enrolment levels in the school have gone down from 400 to merely a few dozen. "We want the education department to resolve the feud with the claimant."
Sindh governor intervenes
The plight of the teachers and students moved Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan who, accompanied by Commissioner Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui, visited the school on Monday afternoon.
With the news of his arrival, the entire government machinery suddenly came alive. In under 10 minutes, Green Town residents witnessed a complete transformation of the streets that were earlier strewn with filth and puddles of water. "It has been around a month since the district municipal corporation personnel were last seen in the area," remarked a resident, who identified himself as Rameed Ahmed. "I hope the long-standing issue of school will also be resolved."
The governor received a briefing by the school headmistress and directed the Korangi assistant deputy commissioners, Wasimuddin and Sirajuddin, to demolish all forms of encroachment inside the public school complex.
"I have also spoken to the Sindh education minister who has assured me that the reconstruction of the school will begin soon after resolving issues with the claimant," Khan told the media.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 13th, 2015.
The government may have used the past month drawing up elaborate security plans for schools but the encroachers at Green Town used this time to cement a wall right in the middle of the school.
The teachers and students of Asif Government Boys Primary as well as Lower Secondary schools arrived on Monday morning after the extended winter vacations to find floor mats and makeshift tents in their so-called classrooms.
It was déjà vu for the students who witnessed a similar scene in August last year when they came back from their summer break. Save the boundary walls, the students were shocked to find their institute had been reduced to rubble. According to Karachi director of school education Abdul Wahab Abbasi, a 'fake' claimant to ownership of the government plot, Saleem Anwarwala, had taken the opportunity to demolish the building.
On Monday, there was one difference: a cement wall had been erected right in the middle of the scattered debris and roofless classrooms, splitting the school premises into half.
Built over a 1,000 square-yard plot in the late 1960s, the school was nationalised during the early 1970s. Later, in 1981, the provincial education department consolidated the Akhtar Government Girls' Primary and Secondary School with the boys' school that operates in the afternoon shift.
Abbasi, who according to the teachers had never bothered to visit the school premises since the demolition, explained why the provincial education department had left the government property in this wretched state for over five months. "We have contributed Rs150,000 in five months to reconstruct the building," he told The Express Tribune. The reconstruction work requires Rs6.7 million based on unofficial estimates.
The teachers, who had been directed by the Sindh education department to continue teaching under these circumstances, were unimpressed with the claim. "They [officials of the Sindh education department as well as the district municipal corporation for Korangi] did not even bother to remove the debris, let alone reconstruct the building," said Nasreen Bano, the headmistress at Akhtar Government Girls' Primary School.
"Which parent would like to send their children to study in the midst of scattered debris and roofless classrooms with not even a single chair to sit on?" she asked. Her fears are proven by the fact that enrolment levels in the school have gone down from 400 to merely a few dozen. "We want the education department to resolve the feud with the claimant."
Sindh governor intervenes
The plight of the teachers and students moved Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan who, accompanied by Commissioner Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui, visited the school on Monday afternoon.
With the news of his arrival, the entire government machinery suddenly came alive. In under 10 minutes, Green Town residents witnessed a complete transformation of the streets that were earlier strewn with filth and puddles of water. "It has been around a month since the district municipal corporation personnel were last seen in the area," remarked a resident, who identified himself as Rameed Ahmed. "I hope the long-standing issue of school will also be resolved."
The governor received a briefing by the school headmistress and directed the Korangi assistant deputy commissioners, Wasimuddin and Sirajuddin, to demolish all forms of encroachment inside the public school complex.
"I have also spoken to the Sindh education minister who has assured me that the reconstruction of the school will begin soon after resolving issues with the claimant," Khan told the media.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 13th, 2015.